Purple Stuff Podcast: VAMPIRES!

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The Purple Stuff Podcast recently turned 5 years old. What’s even more preposterous is that we’ve never done a show on VAMPIRES! Well, here it is folks. More than likely it won’t include the obvious selections that you’d think might get brought up. In this episode Dinosaur Dracula and I have gathered up quite a fiendish list for you. With the Halloween season kicking off, we’re here to help create that spooky atmosphere. You can hear us delve into Draculas and various vampires from all over pop culture, no limits here. This time around we’ve got animation, animatronics, and advertising. It’s all here for you to sink your teeth into! You can listen here or your favorite podcast app. As always, thank you so much for listening and reading. If you’d like to support the show, we are on Patreon where we present a monthly bonus show!

Purple Stuff Podcast: SODA SHOW!

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Soda was kind of a sacred thing in my house growing up. It was literally put on a pedestal, not a shrine, but high atop the fridge, way out of my reach at the time. If I was a good kid I was able to have it sparingly. That may sound nuts by todays standards, but back then it was pretty normal. I had friends who were only allowed to drink milk and water! Some kids I went to school with weren’t even allowed Hi-C because it had too much sugar. The struggle was real. Not too long after, soda became way more of a nightly thing for me. I adored it. I didn’t overdo it either. I knew that if we had a newly opened 2 or 3-liter bottle in the house I didn’t want to run out of that too quickly. This explains my appreciation for this fine bubbly beverage. It also happens to be our topic on the latest Purple Stuff Podcast!

In this new episode, Matt and I discuss SODA. It’s a vast theme but we’ve managed to come up with some sodas that naturally aren’t the norm. Some of these choices are selections we’d like to see come back, ones we obsessed over, and some that totally stand out in the crowded soda aisle in the grocery store. We even do a taste test of a couple of our picks which was a lot of fun. From cans that resemble Indiana Jones treasure to possible the greatest tasting soda ever, this ep is a must listen. Whether you drink soda or not, I think you’ll enjoy it! Listen wherever you get your podcasts! Leave us a positive review if you can! Thank you for your support as always! You can also visit us on Patreon where we post a monthly exclusive bonus show just for the Patronies!

Purple Stuff Podcast: Friday the 13th: The Series

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The Purple Stuff Podcast returns with a new episode! In this one, we dissect a VHS recording of an episode of Friday the 13th: The Series from 1988. Dinosaur Dracula and I get into detail about the episode as well as many of the commercials that aired during the broadcast that night. There was some crazy stuff that went on in this ep and the commercials sandwiched in between will either bring you fondly back in time or make you seriously wonder about the ad wizards who made them. So let me run this down, we talk about Friday the 13th the Series, 7Up Gold, Roger Rabbit, a sports instructional video for a sport that I don’t even play, and a couple of defunct overpriced 1-900 HOTLINES! It’s a total smorgasbord. You might recall, we did a show like this previously focused on a VHS tape of Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter so check that one out if you haven’t yet. Thank you for listening and reading. As always, your support is very much appreciated and if you would like to support the podcast please visit us on Patreon.com/PurpleStuff

Purple Stuff Podcast: Sea Monsters!

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On the new episode of The Purple Stuff Podcast, Matt and I swam the treacherous depths of the scariest parts of the worlds oceans to net you 8 SEA MONSTERS. Obvious choices like JAWS are out of the question, of course. You know us by now. While some of our choices may not be actual “monsters,” they still belong on our list and you can listen to the episode to see if you agree! We’ve got everything from Octo-human hybrids to the Trench warriors from Aquaman to the Sando Monster from The Phantom Menace. Think of it as a sea monster sampler platter, only much less appetizing than one you’d order at Red Lobster in the early ’90s! We had a lot of fun recording this episode, but before you listen, make sure you have your wetsuit and engage your underwater breathing apparatus before diving in with us! Thanks for checking it out. If you would like to support the show you can visit our Patreon where we release monthly bonus episodes.

 

Recreating Harley Quinn’s PINK’ PUDDIN’ from Magnolia Bakery!

People pursue different things. Off the top of my head, I can think of the pursuit of happiness, the American dream, a higher salary, you know all those things. I pursue promotional tie-ins. Yesterday on a drive down the Garden State Parkway, I was reflecting on this and thinking how basically my entire existence has been defined by this chase. It’s something that’s always been in me. Baseball ignites passion in a lot of guys, while others love hunting and fishing, not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s just not in me. Driving to Manhattan like a maniac at 10:00pm on a weeknight in a torrential rainstorm merely to nab a couple of cardboard Birds of Prey crowns at a select Burger King location that’s jazzed up to promote the film – now THAT is my shit. The level of motivation you have to have for that kind of thing is pretty intense. That fire lead me to do something I wouldn’t ordinarily do: BAKE! And that baking lead me to document it on my website, something that I rarely get motivated to do. So here it is, please marvel at my madness for minutia.

Looking back, Birds of Prey had a proper theatrical run before this current quarantine climate. While it wasn’t as lucrative as it should have been, it received a ton of positivity from fans and critics. I saw it twice in theaters and it was easily in my top 3 DC movies thus far. I’ve obviously got a huge soft spot for Harley Quinn, so there’s that, but it’s still a bombastic, colorful, and frenetically fun film and that can’t be denied. No complaints from me in that area, especially since it was released early to digital an VOD. I was ecstatic to be watching it at home way sooner that I thought I’d be. Although, there was one missing piece for me in the promotional machine for the movie.

A quite legendary bakery in New York City, Magnolia, renowned for their cupcakes, was quietly offering an officially endorsed Harley Quinn themed dessert. I found out about this news late as I watched Margot Robbie get presented with it on a late night talk show that I DVR’d and watched a few days too late. SON OF A B! By the time I called Magnolia to see if any of their locations were still offering this delight, I was outright denied. The promotion seemed to have lasted maybe 2 weeks or possibly even less than that.

Their specialty banana pudding recipe was altered ever so slightly and branded with the Birds of Prey logo. In honor of Joker’s ex-squeeze, they even renamed it PINK PUDDIN’! Once I heard the lady on the phone from Magnolia tell me “NO, we stopped serving that,” it was naturally my mission in life to right the wrong that has clearly occurred. How could I have missed out on this? ME…the guy with Harley Quinn on his website header! My mission in life since early February became even clearer and not even the world shutting down could stop me from accomplishing it.

To qualify me as a “baker” would be an absolute farce. Truthfully, I do know my way around a kitchen, although I rarely put those skills into practice. In this case, I called myself on the Batphone and I sprang into action. If you saw me during this blitz of baking, the control and chutzpah on display was pretty remarkable considering I used my stove maybe 5 times in 15 years. My plan was to recreate Magnolia’s specialty banana “Pink Pudding’.” Banana pudding + pink cake crumbles + other nonsense = heaven? I didn’t even bother researching a copycat recipe which is what I’ve done for certain meals in the past. I felt compelled to just guess and wing it and whip this up myself using only THE FORCE a.k.a my intuition. How hard could it be to make banana pudding?

WARNING: I try my best to eat as healthy as I can in any situation, but in this case I went with all the standard ingredients. Ordinarily, I would opt for the healthier options. It’s probably super easy to make a vegan version or just a version that health conscious people don’t mind eating. This right here is a sugar coma waiting to happen, so be warned!

WHAT YOU NEED: Milk, Eggs, Butter (or oil), bananas, cake mix, sprinkles, a couple of colors of icing, instant pudding, measuring cup, large mixing bowls, electric mixer, cake pan, paper dessert cups with lid.

STEP 1:

I picked up banana cream instant pudding. It’s absurdly easy to make. To be honest, I haven’t made pudding since I was a kid with my mom in the kitchen. You throw the mix into a bowl with milk and whisk it for a few minutes and your pudding magically appears in the bowl. If all things in life were as easy as making pudding, we’d live in constant euphoria.

STEP 2:

I’m 99% sure there’s actual bananas in this dessert and it was important to me that I had at least some semblance of fruit in this otherwise it would be literally 100% garbage for you. I bought some of those monster bananas you see in the produce section that were clearly injected with BANE venom. I sliced these babies up real nice and threw them directly into the pudding. Mixed it up, covered the bowl in plastic wrap and threw it in the fridge while I worked on the other stuff.

STEP 3:

Bake a cake! First, pre-heat your oven to the temp. that the box tells you to and then move onto the cake mix. I bought the pink cake because PINK is in the title and the colors are important. The Harley “caution tape” costume in Birds of Prey is the inspiration here in my view, so the more vibrant the better. In this case, I started to add my own spin. If the cake mix you buy calls for oil, that’s fine, but if it calls for butter, make sure the butter is softened and not hard as a rock. That is a key so your cake isn’t lumpy. Nobody wants lumpy cake. In a mixing bowl, throw in some water, your cake mix, eggs, and butter (or oil). This is where you blend it all together until it’s smooth with an electric mixer. Some of you have fancy Kitchen-Aid contraptions, but an electric hand mixer is all you need.

STEP 4:

Once your cake mix is all nice and blended, ensure your pan is greased and floured and then pour the pink goo evenly into the pan (I used a 13×9 pan.) I tried to make sure that the pink sludge (SLIME – it’s a river of slime!) covered all the real estate on the bottom of the pan. Get this baby into the oven. Follow the suggested time range on the back of the box. My cake cooked a little over 30 minutes which was slightly longer than directed. When you remove the cake, stick a knife or toothpick into the cake and when you take it out, if there’s batter lingering on it, it needs more time. If it comes out clean, remove the cake and place it somewhere to completely cool off (away from the hot oven.)

STEP 5:

When the cake is fully cooled off (I left it overnight) you can begin the icing process. To replicate the vibrant, multicolored Harley costume with pinks and blues and yellows etc, I suggest picking up at least 3 colors of icing and fun sprinkles. Pink and yellow were my main colors, but I also used cream cheese icing since I read somewhere that Magnolia uses that in their banana pudding. Next, I separated the cake into 3 sections and iced them accordingly. If the cake crumbles at any point, it’s fine, you’re going to need it to do that anyway. When you are all good and iced, pretend you’re Tinkerbell and sprinkle the Pixie Dust all over the cake.

STEP 6:

Take one of your paper dessert cups and begin to form your PINK PUDDIN’. This is not a science by any means, especially since I have absolutely no clue how this is actually made. To me, that’s what makes this great, each dessert cup is a work of art, it’s like Joker fixing the paintings in the Flugelheim Art Museum. Throw a little puddin’ in to start at the bottom, and then throw in a small piece of cake over in this corner, and on that corner make sure there’s some more pudding but ensure there’s an actual banana included, then take a small chunk from another section of the cake to get that multicolored appearance. While you are forming this, use a spoon to mash it together a little bit, all while attempting to keep the colors separated. Once you are reaching the top of the cup, use a spatula or any similar utensil to flatten off the excess and then close it up with the lid and into the fridge it goes until you are ready to enjoy it.

WRAP-UP

I went to the next level to try to make this as accurate as possible, even going to the extent of printing out the actual labels Magnolia used. I used a graphics program to isolate the sticker from a picture I found on Instagram. Then I had to order printer ink because I never use my printer. It was covered in dust! Printed those babies out and taped them right onto the top of the container.  I have to say, this dessert was ridiculously delicious. I know a lot of people hate bananas and anything remotely banana-flavored, but this is a must try. The standout for me was the cake, once the cake sits in the container in the fridge it starts to absorb the flavors of the icing and the pudding and it’s just all so wonderful. It’s a very sweet and rich dessert and I have a feeling it was a pretty close stand-in for the real thing, even though I have no backing to say that. Even if it wasn’t close, getting shut out of a Birds of Prey promotional food tie-in motivated me enough to “do a thing.” I will always have this experience to carry with me now and I was able to share it with you. It’s amazing how getting told NO can make you do some absolutely WILD shit…like turning on your oven!

Purple Stuff Podcast: Creepy Commercials!

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The latest episode of The Purple Stuff Podcast has arrived! In this show Dino Drac and I talk about CREEPY COMMERCIALS! It’s surprising to think that something we as a society tried to avoid like the plague by either running to the kitchen for a snack or fast forwarding the breaks during a show we taped, can be so chock full of nostalgia. As much as we tried to tune out commercials we couldn’t escape them and that’s why they’re so embedded in our brains. Whether the terrifying imagery was burned into our eyes or the jingle was memorable, commercials and public service announcements deserve their own episode on The Purple Stuff Podcast. Specifically, we’re discussing ads that were either subtly horrifying for us when we were young or traditionally spooky in some way. The ads we bring up include everything from Elvira partying it up in Norman Bate’s house, Vincent Price and luxurious red velvet bound books, and a haunted forest of fruit snacks, so you can’t go wrong here! Here’s a playlist of the commercials we talk about it if you would like to listen and watch at the same time, but be careful your brain doesn’t explode! Thank you for listening to the show and if you would like to support The Purple Stuff Podcast you can visit www.Patreon.com/PurpleStuff

Purple Stuff Podcast: Shocktober’s Friday the 13th IV Presentation!

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You may have a photograph or a home video taken with the gargantuan family camcorder that really takes you back to a moment in time. For the Purple Stuff Podcast, we were bestowed with a tape, a recording of a WPIX Shocktober broadcast from October 1992. Specifically, Friday the 13th IV: The Final Chapter was on tap for that night. It couldn’t have been a more perfect pairing. Words simply cannot describe how important horror movies on WPIX during Halloween were to both Matt and I. Obviously, Matt has written on the Internet about them for a million years, but I have also worked this angle into many of my Halloween specials as well. You’ve probably heard us on The Purple Stuff Podcast do the whole “Shhhhhhhhocktober” stinger many times, but in our latest episode we give it the proper tribute treatment it deserves.

We have a super fun and nostalgic episode for you in this time of quarantine. Hopefully you’ll join us and take your mind off of all the craziness going on in the world right now. It’s the perfect getaway for your mind. Not only will you hear us capture what WPIX and their Halloween inspired marathon meant to us, but we also dig in to one of our favorite installments in the Friday the 13th franchise! Friday the 13th IV The Final Chapter was always my favorite for so many reasons which I delve into on the show. I can’t forget to mention that one of the coolest aspects of this tape we received had all of the commercial breaks in tact. This means we get a chance to look back on Shocktober promos, commercials, and public service announcements!

We really had a blast on this trip back to that night. An evening where we were both in our respective homes settled in anticipating the big day, Halloween, and watching horror movies on the channel that had it all. Listen to us attempt to capture just how important this all was to us! Below you can watch a video Matt compiled that includes footage and clips from the video we are discussing if you would like to watch for reference during the pod!

*If you enjoy the show and would like to support it, you can visit us on Patreon where we release exclusive monthly bonus shows. Thank you for reading and listening and I hope you all stay safe in a blanket fort with all your favorite snacks and movies.

Purple Stuff Podcast: DICK TRACY!

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After Batman was released in 1989, movie studios were scrambling to have their own superhero at the helm. One of them didn’t wear a cape but rather a yellow trenchcoat. We’re talking about DICK TRACY! The colorful comic book film was a throwback to an era that many of us were largely unfamiliar with as kids, but that just made it all the more interesting. While it’s pretty obvious that having a cool communicator watch may not have been as cool as a Batmobile, grappling gun, or an entire utility belt’s worth of gadgets, in the new episode of the Purple Stuff Podcast, we’ll explore a ton of other high points that spawned from the Dick Tracy movie. Dinosaur Dracula and I trade our memories of the movie, some of our favorite quotes and impressions, and also delve into the awesome action figure line from Playmates. Check this episode out to celebrate the 30th anniversary of a film that left an indelible mark (made up of Tommy Gun Bullets) on our childhood!

Thank you for listening! If you would like to support the Purple Stuff Podcast please visit us our Patreon page!